Hi! I'm an 18 year old female from Southern US who unfortunately resides in a very insecure, oblivious, spoon-fed area in which attempts to control any means of diversity. My journey which has led me to Satanism started when I was 14 years old after accepting an invitation attend a Baptist Church. As we were in the youth common area the youth minister was preaching of jealousy as one of the deadliest Christian sins. Something crossed my mind and (in respect, of course) I simply asked, "But isn't God a jealous God?" I could sense her trying to fumble for answers to my question. Later on after studying/exploring Christianity I came to the conclusion that Christians worship the God who "loves" his people only if the people conform to his standards that is portrayed of himself. I'd like to add that Christians do not "love" him they simply bow in fear from what they are told. Putting confidence in stories written by humans themselves saddens me that they lack any self-awareness. I enjoy studying religions, practices, philosophies, etc. I just wanted to explain ONE of the many valid reasons for which I have decided that Satanism is the way of living for myself.

Yes, of course One who is himself God has every right and free will to dictate for himself. I was referring to one of the reasons that I did not chose Christianity (the most popular religion that I grew up with) for myself is because of a lot of the hypocrisy that comes with it; I won't deny my truest desires to bow for a hypocratic, mythical "spirit". Everyone has their own free will and if they choose that way then great for their conformation to a God who sets standards that he himself live by. I agree completely and do not antagonize any God for what rules or obligations he sets for himself and/or his followers if they wish to chose that. As for myself, I chose to be the individual flesh that I am and thrive by being a human who doesn't want to "attempt" in curbing my true self of a carnal animal. Maybe I should have explained my intentions on the post a bit better And Thank You for the welcome!!

Welcome Sierra, The good news is we don't get burnt at the stake anymore, the even better news is we are Satanists and with the utmost pride we are here to stay! Again welcome to a place of non-judgement. I know personally from spending time in Tennessee that our religion is not very, well lets just say, not the status quo. Enjoy your time here you are amongst true friends. HAIL SATAN!

_________________________
The God You SAVE May Be Yourself-The Satanic Bible-Book Of Lucifer-Chapter II-HAIL APOLLYON! HAIL SATAN!

Suggestion. Satanism is a religion of radical individualism. As such, many if not most Satanists tend to recoil, even take offense, at the excessive use of plural pronouns in reference to an essentially non-existent "Satanic collective".

"Our", "ours", "us", "we", etc, all tend to seem to aggregate others (strangers you do not know) into whatever point you happen to be making, and in many cases, they do not wish anyone but themselves to speak on their behalf, about anything. Ever.

An obvious exception to this is when the High Priest or High Priestess speak or write: they do in fact have a mandate to speak on behalf of Satanists, collectively, on matters of Satanic philosophy and dogma, but even then, they know very very very well where to draw the line at making assumptions regarding the opinions and perspectives of individual members.

Likewise, members of the Priesthood have a certain (but lesser) leeway to use plural pronouns like "we", on occasion, when appropriate: as do the Moderators of this message board regarding its functioning.

Even so, you will notice (if you look) that even among the above, there is a strong dis-proclivity to try to speak for anyone other than themselves as an individual.

Satanists (as a group, hahaha) are the mostly vehemently opposed to group think of any religion that has ever existed, so there's a certain unintentional irony when a Satanist uses the word "we", instead of "I".

I do not speak for others, nor do I speak for Satanism as an official representative, but to me, "judgement" is a central ideal to how I view Satanism, and life in general. Leaving "judgement up to God", or however those of herd mentality might put it, is intellectually deficient.

As human beings, we have the ability to discriminate between things we agree with and do not agree with, things we find enjoyable and things we do not enjoy, etcetera. The same goes for any view, opinion or belief. We are allowed to judge anyone, however we please, so long as we respect their right to express themselves freely (which, at least in a general sense, does not mean we cannot deride against their position/opinion/belief; however, the rules here and for Satanic interaction with other members of the Church, we are to remain "polite", so as to not appear to be raving mouth-breathers like those of the Herd when they react to a disagreeable opinion).

But I digress and distract from the point of this thread. Welcome Sierra. Hail Satan!

_________________________
"Man can focus his mind to a full, active, purposefully directed awareness of reality - or he can unfocus it and let himself drift in a semiconscious daze..." ~ Ayn Rand

Please excuse my ignorance as I should speak only for myself. The views I expressed are solely my own and are not the reflection of CoS or any other person. I have alot to learn and always will. Thank you, welcome again Sierra, and HAIL SATAN!

_________________________
The God You SAVE May Be Yourself-The Satanic Bible-Book Of Lucifer-Chapter II-HAIL APOLLYON! HAIL SATAN!